Stay the course
A good portion of my time is spent in research. All of my current reading and past experience suggest to me that meaningful market setbacks have not historically occurred during huge waves of public pessimism and fear-- quite the contrary.
This is not intended as a market forecast. It is simply an invitation, as we look to the new year, to take some comfort from the rampant fear abroad in the land. Even after a decade or more of stellar returns-- let's hold off on the worrying. That is, until the stock market has become cocktail party conversation, your Uber driver starts giving stock recommendations and everyone around us gets excitedly bullish.
It is quite possible 2020 will not be as good for returns as 2019 has been. The fact-- or the truth-- is that those of us who are goal-focused, planning-driven investors enjoyed an exceptional year in 2019. We did so-- not by forecasting, nor jumping in and out of markets, but by patiently hewing to our long-term, balanced portfolios.
That is the lesson that I will carry into 2020.
